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Miro Tartufi spreads a luscious Istrian truffle feast

Posted on October 5, 2021October 5, 2021 by Pat and David

Miro Kortiga might do the truffle foraging, but his wife Mirjana Kortiga takes charge of the tables at Miro Tartufi (miro-tarufi.com). She began by plying us with drinks before dinner. One choice was a very sweet honey liqueur. The other was a glass of white wine made from Istria's native grape, Malvazija Istriana, known since the ancient Greeks ruled the region. Mirjana and her staff had already prepared truffle hors d'oeuvres boards at each table. They had spread thin slices of bread with a mushroom spread that included some truffles and a soft creamy cheese with flecks of grated white truffle. They did the trick: All of us on the truffle experience found our mouths watering. The two cheeses with flecks of black truffle in...Read More

Truffle season brings gastronomic joy to Istria

Posted on September 28, 2021September 28, 2021 by Pat and David

From a foodie perspective, Istria is a marvelously complicated place. Every conquering nation that's passed through has left culinary traces behind. Long part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, then a corner of Yugoslavia, these days the region largely belongs to Croatia. It's the thumb-like peninsula that juts down into the Adriatic just south of the currently Italian city of Trieste and a tiny strip of Slovenia. Parts of Istria bleed into Slovenia and over the border into the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. Out of tradition and perhaps necessity, people speak a whole basket of languages. But American food lovers need to know just one thing about Istria. Lidia Bastianich hails from Istria, which speaks volumes about the food. Just before the pandemic, we spent...Read More

Some articles

James Beard Classics in New Mexico James Beard Classics hit the spot in Santa Fe and Albuquerque Boston Globe Magazine James Beard Classics in New Mexico Truly Madly Deeply Explore the surreal love nests of Salvador and Gala Dalí in and around Cadaqués on Spain's Mediterranean coast Boston Globe Sunday Travel Truly madly deeply Journey to the Sea Follow the Connecticut River for a four-day scenic road trip through the heart of New England Boston Globe Magazine Journey to the Sea Cold Comfort The New England Eating Season: A foodie's winter bucket list Boston Globe Magazine Cold Comfort A Taste for Cruising Hands-on cooking classes and shore excursions with a culinary focus make cruises on the Oceania line a lip-smacking experience. Ensemble Vacations A Taste...Read More

Enjoying the sheer immersion of a Mexican food market

Posted on June 9, 2020June 8, 2020 by Pat and David

Diego Rivera (see last post) wasn't the only one obsessed with Mexican food markets. It's funny that Americans think of Mexico as a place where all the meals are based on dried corn made into a bread (tortillas), dried chiles made into sauces, or dried beans made into burrito fillings. Given their druthers, most Mexicans eat fresh fruits and vegetables as their dietary mainstays. True, they do love to grill and deep-fry some foods, but the key to the Mexican table is fresh food. That could include some pretty exotic stuff. The basket of small gray stuff in the left pane above is huitlacoche—fresh corn infected with what American farmers call ‶corn smut.″ It's a fungus that makes the kernels ooze with an inky, musky...Read More

Chocolate and bourbon make best of friends

Posted on November 22, 2017February 25, 2018 by Pat and David

We were glad to see Andy Embry behind the counter at the cookware store and demonstration kitchen Mesa (216 Pearl Street, 812-725-7691, mesachefs.com) in New Albany. Mesa offers an ambitious schedule of cooking demonstrations led by local chefs. We had signed up for the bourbon and chocolate tasting program that is usually offered once a month, according to Mesa owner Bobby Bass. Embry had been remarkably engaging and knowledgeable when he guided us through the Evan Williams center in Louisville (see this post). And he had offered some good pointers on tasting bourbon. So we were curious to see how he approached pairing bourbon with chocolate. His partner in the demonstration was Erika Chavez-Graziano, founder of Cellar Door Chocolates (cellardoorchocolates.com), which has three shops in...Read More

Spanning the decades of Niagara craft brewing

Posted on September 20, 2017February 28, 2018 by Pat and David

The craft brewing scene on the Niagara peninsula is, appropriately enough, fluid. Small breweries pop up in every town and their styles range from simple session ales to extreme brews. We stopped in to taste one of the newest and most experimental—Exchange in Niagara-on-the-Lake—as well as one of the pioneer craft brewers, now operating as Syndicate Restaurant and Brewery in a newly gentrifying neighborhood in Niagara Falls. Exchange Brewery Shiny black walls, shiny black bottles, and a marble bar immediately signal that Exchange Brewery (7 Queen St., Niagara-on-the-Lake; 905-468-9888; exchangebrewery.com) is not exactly a suds-soaked beer bar. The brewery and tasting room in the Old Town heritage district strike a sophisticated urban tone in striking contrast to Oast's aw-shucks country brewery image. The building was...Read More

Co Couture embodies the artistry of chocolate

Posted on December 7, 2016June 9, 2020 by Pat and David

Deirdre McCanny had never made a chocolate in her life when she decided to leave her job in international sales and marketing to start a chocolate shop in Belfast. From modest beginnings in her apartment, she moved into her cozy shop with a big workroom in back in December 2009. It's just a few steps down from the sidewalk on the corner of Donegall Square East, literally around the corner from Belfast City Hall. It has become, as Deirdre calls it, “a chocolate oasis in the city center.” The first time we visited, a regular customer had just stopped in for a cup of hot chocolate and a cherry-sencha truffle as a treat at the end of the work day. (The tart cherry and herbaceous...Read More

Belfast’s OX treats Irish food with hugs and kisses

Posted on November 24, 2016June 9, 2020 by Pat and David

We weren't surprised to eat foie gras and truffles at OX in Belfast, which won its first Michelin star last spring after opening in March 2013. (It's one of two starred restaurants in Belfast.) Restaurateurs believe that foie gras and truffles must appear on a menu before Michelin will award even one star. No doubt there are exceptions, but we haven't encountered them. What was a delightful surprise was that such highfalutin ingredients were the exception rather than the rule at OX (1 Oxford Street, 28 9031 4121, oxbelfast.com). The truly defining moments in the spectacular autumn tasting menu were those dishes where humble, local ingredients sang. OX aims to serve brilliantly conceived, highly seasonal food. The price is low for fine dining (£50 for...Read More

Lexington chefs show true grits

Posted on August 9, 2015January 16, 2020 by Pat and David

The fried oysters with cheese-sausage grits at Nick Ryan's (157 Jefferson St., Lexington; 859-233-7900; nickryans.com) were real eye-openers, since both the batter on the bivalves and the grits had striking corn flavor. Then we tried the shrimp and grits at Coles (735 Main St., Lexington, 859-266-9000; coles735main.com), and had the same epiphany. There was really something special about the grits these Lexington, Kentucky chefs were using. Few restaurants have the luxury of using freshly ground, locally grown grains with the germ intact, which gives a much more profound flavor than nationally distributed products where the germ is removed to make them more shelf-stable. The difference is comparable to fresh sweet corn as opposed to corn picked a week earlier and shipped across the country. We...Read More

Grits with black truffle and poached eggs

Posted on July 30, 2015June 29, 2016 by David

As Pat and I developed ways to use black truffles, we generally opted for the simplest and most straightforward combinations. Keeping in mind that truffles pair well with corn—and that northern Italians sometimes eat truffles on polenta—we decided to try truffles with some of the best grits we've been able to lay hands on. We'll be writing shortly about our food and drink visit to central Kentucky, where we had the good fortune to drive from Lexington out to Midway to visit Weisenberger Mill. This is a truly old-fashioned mill that has been stone-grinding grain for six generations, starting in 1865. Living in Yankeeville, we have a hard time finding good white grits, but now know we can order them online from Weisenberger at www.weisenberger.com....Read More